Saints recruit 'world leaders'
Samantha Lane | July 14, 2007
ST KILDA soon would be punching above its weight, club president Rod Butterss proclaimed last night, after appointing a quartet of sports science experts from the Australian Institute of Sport to help fix, among other things, the Saints' glaring soft-tissue injury problem.
Dr Dennis Hatcher, head of sports science, medical research and education at the AIS, Dr David Pyne, a sports physiologist there, Dr Peter Stanton, a former physiotherapist with the AIS who spent three years as head physiotherapist at the Brisbane Lions during their three-premiership run, and Craig Purdam, head of physiotherapy at the AIS, would form what Butterss called a new "sports science and innovation group" at St Kilda that is being headed by former club captain Dr Ross Smith.
"This club has lost more players through soft-tissue injuries by a factor of about 50 per cent. So when you compare that with other clubs, our limited player availability has really cost us," Butterss told his president's dinner. "The next worse, if you like, is the Melbourne footy club and we all know they're struggling to win a game.
"I think it's important to note that these people, and indeed the AIS, are the world leaders in the area of sports science and high performance. We don't need to travel overseas; just consider the results Australian teams have achieved on the global stage. As a nation, we punch above our weight, and now so does the St Kilda Football Club, both in terms of financial performance … and now by attracting and collaborating with these world leaders, we punch above our weight. Already the benefits are starting to flow."
Butterss credited Smith with pulling the team together, saying it was "a great coup". "I and my fellow directors have been extremely frustrated each week with our inability to put the very best team on the park. Some of our performances this year with a number of our better players out have been outstanding. And to have won six games with the stock that we've had available, I think has been an outstanding performance and congratulations to our football department and our playing group," he said.
Butterss also said St Kilda this year would post a fourth consecutive profit in excess of $1 million.
Samantha Lane | July 14, 2007
ST KILDA soon would be punching above its weight, club president Rod Butterss proclaimed last night, after appointing a quartet of sports science experts from the Australian Institute of Sport to help fix, among other things, the Saints' glaring soft-tissue injury problem.
Dr Dennis Hatcher, head of sports science, medical research and education at the AIS, Dr David Pyne, a sports physiologist there, Dr Peter Stanton, a former physiotherapist with the AIS who spent three years as head physiotherapist at the Brisbane Lions during their three-premiership run, and Craig Purdam, head of physiotherapy at the AIS, would form what Butterss called a new "sports science and innovation group" at St Kilda that is being headed by former club captain Dr Ross Smith.
"This club has lost more players through soft-tissue injuries by a factor of about 50 per cent. So when you compare that with other clubs, our limited player availability has really cost us," Butterss told his president's dinner. "The next worse, if you like, is the Melbourne footy club and we all know they're struggling to win a game.
"I think it's important to note that these people, and indeed the AIS, are the world leaders in the area of sports science and high performance. We don't need to travel overseas; just consider the results Australian teams have achieved on the global stage. As a nation, we punch above our weight, and now so does the St Kilda Football Club, both in terms of financial performance … and now by attracting and collaborating with these world leaders, we punch above our weight. Already the benefits are starting to flow."
Butterss credited Smith with pulling the team together, saying it was "a great coup". "I and my fellow directors have been extremely frustrated each week with our inability to put the very best team on the park. Some of our performances this year with a number of our better players out have been outstanding. And to have won six games with the stock that we've had available, I think has been an outstanding performance and congratulations to our football department and our playing group," he said.
Butterss also said St Kilda this year would post a fourth consecutive profit in excess of $1 million.

